Why Do I Have Gaps In My Hardwood Floor

Water logged wood will first swell then shrink as it dries out.

Why do i have gaps in my hardwood floor.

The wood shrinks because it loses moisture and gaps. Engineered hardwood flooring is designed to minimize gaps due to expansion and contraction of the wood. Do all this if you expect your solid wood floors to stay tight. Often it s a floor owner concerned with new hardwood floors separating or gapping.

The gaps that you have now are probably permanent. In any case wait until spring before you do any filling and do it sparingly. With older tongue and groove hardwood or even wide plank floors gaps inevitably develop between the boards mostly because the wood shrinks over time as it dries out and loses moisture content. If you do discover that your hardwood floor is beginning to gap in spots it s important that you take care of it sooner rather than later.

Repairing permanent floor cracks photo credit. Almost every wood floor will show some separation between boards particularly in the winter months when homes are heated and the air is dry. Yes it can still have gaps. Not only are they an eyesore they can also collect dirt and dust.

The problem is magnified when the boards were not tightly laid in the first place. But to answer a common question. For normal gaps no repairs are needed. Large gaps in wood floors that do not close up during the summer months could be a result of excessive moisture check the crawl space below being located too close to a heating vent incorrect nail spacing or structural settlement issues.

Improperly acclimating the hardwoods prior to installation. In cases where the gaps aren t repaired by increasing the humidity levels you will need to fill these cracks. Gaps in hardwood floors can be a huge visual annoyance. Gapping in engineered hardwood can be due to many factors including but not limited to the material s manufacturing changes in humidity and the type and quality of the installation.

Why does my floor have gaps or some similar version of that like can you fill the cracks in my floor it s not fun to have your floors refinished and the boards are tight in the summer and then just a few months later when things start to get colder they start opening and being full of gaps. Jasper hardwood canadian silver maple collection in montebello gray sku. Failing to install the first board perfectly straight in a hardwood flooring installation. Another exacerbating condition is water damage.

They weren t there in the summer solid 3 4 hardwoods will expand and contract with seasonal changes in moisture. 10098557 don t delay fixing hardwood floor gaps. Hardwood floor gaps cracks. Some finishes may also help reduce the risk of your hardwood floor drying.

Hardwood gaps are generally caused by one of a few installation errors. Don t put any filler into prefinished floors it never looks good. While humidity may affect your hardwood floor permanent cracking is also a possible issue. Adding filler is not a good idea.

It will get pushed out as the. Don t even think about repairs until the spring the floors amy have corrected.